782 
yation in which there is a conftant recur- 
ence of the fame tones,obfcures the fenfe,by 
not giving the words the full force which 
they are accuftomed to receive in conver- 
fation. In lofing the ordinary emphafis, 
we lofe the meaning. Eloquence, being 
tranfitory, fhould be eafily comprehended. 
_Awritten treatife we may underitand 
at our leifure, but an harangue muft be 
underftood immediately, or notatall. A 
flight mifconception may derange a whole 
train of argument; and this mifconcep- 
tion may be produced by an indiftinét 
utterance, or the negleé&t of ufing com- 
mon emphafis. The chain being once 
broken, is not eafily linked again. The 
orator having once mifled his auditors, 
by the peculiarities of his tones or em- 
phafis, may finith hisfpeech by himfelf. 
‘To be underftood without difirculty, he 
muft, therefore, adopt the familiar mode 
of pronunciation. 
But, perhaps, fome of your. readers 
may here afk, vechether orators ought to 
be underftood-or attended to® This, fir, 
is a queition of fo important a nature,, that 
I confefs myfelf incompetent te anfwer 
it. Indeed, I will candidly acknowledge 
that the prefent monotoncus fyftem of 
pronunciation is attended with many be- 
nefits to fociety, and that a rejection of 
it,might produce evils of confiderable mag- 
nitude: for example, preachers, by be- 
coming animated and intelligible, would 
difturb the flumbers of thofe pious per- 
fons who go weekly to church, to enjoy 
that repofe which their beds cannot af- 
ford them, and would reduce their con- 
gregation to the painful necefiity of 
thinking : barrifters, by making them- 
felves clearly underfteod, would ‘dimi- 
nifh fo confiderably the bufinefs of the 
courts, that the majority of a very re- 
{pectable profeffion would want employ- 
ment: and fenators, by comprehending 
each other too readily, would be deprived 
of much of the harmlefs amufement with 
which the debates of the Houfe fupply 
them, and would be ‘driven to employ 
their hours with the lefs innocent diver- 
_fion of the gaming table. So far, there- 
fore, from banifhing the prefent recitative 
mode of fpeaking, perhaps it would be 
ufeful to reduce it to a perfeét {cience. 
For this purpofe, each member .of the 
fenate, before he fhould go into the 
Houfe, might be drilled into the ma- 
noeuvres of reciiatreve, by an opera caf- 
trato; and as Orpheus by his. mufic 
charmed the very brutes, fo our fena- 
tors, by their melodious lullaby, might 
fecthe the /winh multitude to ref, and. 
5 
Charity at Baxtor. 
make them forget theif nature. 
produce harmony, the recitative might 
be accompanied, and each fpeaker might 
fele& the inftrument which would bef 
fuir his character and dignity. Thus, 
Mr. Dundas might be accompanied with 
bag-pipes, and the Earl of Lauderdale, 
with the French-horn ; the Secretary ‘at 
war, with drum and fife ; and the Lord 
Mayor, with marrow-bone and cleaver ; 
Mr. Canning might blow the trumpet to 
Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Erfkine might blow ~ 
his own trumpet. In this ftate-concert, 
I, for my own part, fhould fee no mate- 
rial objeétion to our prefent minifter’s 
playing the frff fiddle, though, undoubt- 
.edly, there are thofe who would fay, it 
refembled too clofely the piéture of Ne- 
ro fiddling while Rome was in fames.— 
But this would certainly be proper, that! 
when any member fhould be iniuferably 
prolix, dull, or nharmonious in his rea-’ 
taticns, the whole Houfe thould join in 
whifiling “my uncle ‘Teby’s favourite 
tune of Lillabullero, or in chorufling the 
good old fong of Chevy Chace ; i, how- 
ever, the cafe fhould happen in the Houfé 
Bi [Nove 
To @ 
2 
4 
4 
Pee ae ee ee. 
we 
of Ecrds, I would recommend the bench © 
of Bifhops to preferve their ecclefiaiticalh 
dignity, by chaunting the hundred and 
nineteenth Pfalm. 
: Your,s, &e. 
a. FA. Ee 
Norwich, April 14, 1796- - 

To the Editor of ihe Monthly Magazine. 
STR,‘ 
HERE is nothing in which the Eng- 
lifh character and difpofition appear 
to more advantage, than in the inftitu- 
be met with in every part of the ifland. 
The number of thefe, and the excel- 
lent manner in which they are in ge- 
neral conduéted, refleét the higheft ho- 
nour on the benevolent fupporters of 
them. Numerous as thefe inftitutions 
are, it is remarkable that fo few of 
them derive their fupport from the na- 
tioncl funds. By far the greater part of 
‘them ¢ré indebted for this to the fub- 7 
‘{criptions, the benefactions, or the be= 7 
-quefts of individuals, defirous of pro- © 
moting the caufe of charity and huma- 
‘nity. °It‘is impofble to prevent the 
‘thought forcing itfelf on our minds, to 
‘what noble purpofes a few of the mil-~ 
lions now expending in promoting the” 
works. of flaughter and devaftation, 
might be applied, if our rulers were, i@ 
truth, actuated by the benevolent mo*— 
tlVes 
+ 
- 
j 
‘ 
tions for various charitable purpoles i 
5 
b 
